THE Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said it is seeking more research and development (R&D) funding and government support for biotechnology at state universities and colleges (SUCs), in aid of the development of the agriculture sector.

The head of CHEd’s research management division, Custer C. Deocaris, said enrollment has risen for agriculture-related programs, but SUCs in the Philippines lag their peers in Southeast Asia.

“It’s only now that there has been a resurgence in term of applications and enrollments in schools so I think we need to have a rebranding in agriculture,” he said.

“Agriculture doesn’t mean that you’ll spend all day in the fields. Agriculture [now] means mechanization, entrepreneurship. We have programs now in CHEd that involve agricultural entrepreneurship.”

According to CHEd, enrollment in agri-fisheries courses started to rise in 2008. Enrollment levels in 2015 are up 142% from the base year.

The 2015 total is 143,182 students out of 4.10 million enrollees overall, making agri-fisheries the seventh largest out of 21 discipline groups.

“We need more research funding, more extension projects in schools and more academe-industry partnerships, which is CHEd’s focus right now since it puts to use the knowledge produced by the universities,” he added.

Extension programs serve as the channel for SUCs to share know-how with farmers via technology demonstrations, among other programs. As of 2014, there are 176 technology demonstration projects nationwide.

Mr. Deocaris said R&D in biotechnology will help raise agricultural yields and prepare the farm sector for increased automation and digitalization.

The farm sector accounts for a quarter of the work force but only a tenth of gross domestic product. — Anna Gabriela A. Mogato

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